The 43-year-old entertainer took the stage with Evan Goldberg, also 43, to accept the Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series award for The Studio.
O'Hara, who died on January 30 at age 71, starred alongside them in the hit Apple TV+ show.
'Honestly, there’s no one we wish we could thank in person at this moment more than we would love to thank Catherine O'Hara,' Rogen said, per an account from Deadline.
'We grew up in Canada, and she is and was quite literally our idol since we were children,' Goldberg added.
Rogen shared an on-set memory: 'I mean, Home Alone, honestly, is like the movie that made me want to make movies in a lot of ways. In that movie, she’s always yelling "Kevin! Kevin!" and on set we would be yelling "Evan! Evan!" Every time she did, it’s like, Home Alone.'
Seth Rogen paid tribute to Catherine O'Hara at the 2026 Directors Guild of America Awards on Saturday evening
O'Hara, pictured playfully posing behind Rogan, died on January 30 at age 71
Rogen continued in the speech, 'And the best part of her is she showed that you can be an utter genius and also the nicest person in the entire world.
'It was an honor to get to direct her every day and we worked very hard to make the show good enough to warrant her time and her presence.
'So, ultimately, we would like to thank the DGA for this, but we would mostly like to thank Catherine O'Hara for being such a wonderful person and for blessing us with your presence.'
Rogen and Goldberg won their award for co-directing an episode titled The Magic Hour.
O'Hara passed away at her home in Los Angeles 'following a brief illness,' the Daily Mail confirmed last week.
Following the news of her death, Rogen honored her with an Instagram tribute.
He shared a photo of the late star with a mischievous smile on her face as she poked him on the back.
'Really don't know what to say…' he began the caption of his post. 'I told O'Hara when I first met her I thought she was the funniest person I'd ever had the pleasure of watching on screen.'
O'Hara starred as Patty Leigh in Apple TV+'s The Studio alongside Rogen; The two seen in a still from the show
The 43-year-old entertainer took the stage with Evan Goldberg, also 43, to accept the Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series award for The Studio
'Honestly, there’s no one we wish we could thank in person at this moment more than we would love to thank Catherine O'Hara,' Rogen said
Earlier in the night, Rogen was seen posing with wife Lauren Miller on the red carpet shortly before the ceremony kicked off
Rogen was dapper wearing a black velvet, double-breasted suit which was paired with a white dress shirt and black bowtie
'Home Alone was the movie that made me want to make movies. Getting to work with her was a true honour,' the filmmaker added.
'She was hysterical, kind, intuitive, generous… she made me want to make our show good enough to be worthy of her presence in it.
'This is just devastating. We're all lucky we got to live in a world with her in it,' the note ended.
O'Hara's turn as Patty Leigh on The Studio, which debuted in March 2025, was one of her final screen roles.
On the show, Patty – a high-powered Hollywood executive – served as a mentor to Rogen's Matt Remick, and the pair developed a similar bond off-screen.
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film
Paul Thomas Anderson - One Battle After Another - WINNER
Guillermo Del Toro - Frankenstein
Josh Safdie - Marty Supreme
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series
Liza Johnson - The Diplomat, "Amagansett"
Amanda Marsalis - The Pitt, "6:00 P.M."
Janus Metz - Andor, "Who Are You?"
Ben Stiller - Severance, "Cold Harbor"
John Wells - The Pitt, "7:00 A.M." - WINNER
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Limited & Anthology Series
Jason Bateman - Black Rabbit, "The Black Rabbits"
Antonio Campos - The Beast in Me, "Sick Puppy"
Lesli Linka Glatter - Zero Day, "Episode 6"
Shannon Murphy - Dying For Sex, "It's Not That Serious" - WINNER
Ally Pankiw - Black Mirror, "Common People"
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Variety
Yvonne De Mare - The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, "Julia Roberts; Sam Smith"
Andy Fisher - Jimmy Kimmel Live!, "Stephen Colbert; Kumail Nanjiani; Reneé Rapp"
Beth McCarthy-Miller - SNL50: The Homecoming Concert - WINNER
Liz Patrick - SNL50: The Anniversary Special
Paul Pennolino - Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, "Public Media"
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Reality/ Quiz & Game
Lucinda M. Margolis - Jeopardy!, "Ep. 9341"
Adam Sandler - The Price is Right, "10,000th Episode"
Mike Sweeney - Conan O'Brien Must Go, "Austria" - WINNER
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary Film
Mstyslav Chernov - 2000 Meters to Andriivka - WINNER
Geeta Gandbhir -The Perfect Neighbor
Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni - Cutting Through Rocks
Elizabeth Lo - Mistress Dispeller
Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus - Cover Up
Michael Apted Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in First-Time Theatrical Feature Film
Hasan Hadi - The President's Cake
Charlie Polinger - The Plague - WINNER
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series
Lucia Aniello - Hacks, "A Slippery Slope"
Janicza Bravo - The Bear, "Worms"
Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg - The Studio, 'The Oner" - WINNER
Christopher Storer - The Bear, "Bears"
Mike White - The White Lotus, "Denials"
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies For Television
Jesse Armstrong - Mountainhead
Stephen Chbosky - Nonnas - WINNER
Scott Derrickson - The Gorge
Michael Morris - Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy
Kyle Newacheck - Happy Gilmore 2
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Sports
Matthew Gangl - 2025 World Series - Game 7 - Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Toronto Blue Jays - WINNER
Steve Milton - 2025 Masters Tournament - Augusta National Golf Club
Rich Russo - Super Bowl LIX - Philadelphia Eagles vs. Kansas City Chiefs
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Commercials
Kim Gehrig - You Can't Win. So Win. – Nike | Wieden+Kennedy; I'm Not Remarkable – Apple | Client Direct - WINNER
Miles Jay - Dish – ChatGPT | Isle of Any; Pull Up – ChatGPT | Isle of Any; Trip – ChatGPT | Isle of Any; Home for the Holidays – Meta | Droga5; Secret Santa – Meta | Droga5
Spike Jonze - Someday – Apple Airpods 4 | TBWA\Media Arts Lab
Andreas Nilsson - Conquer the First School Poo – Andrex | FCB London; Garrett – Apple iPhone 16 Pro | Client Direct; Big Flex – Apple iPhone 16 Pro | Client Direct; Trunk Trucker – Virgin Media | VCCP London
Steve Rogers - Bring a Book to Life – Amazon | Droga5 London; A Tale as Old as Websites – Squarespace | Client Direct; Everything is Fine – Coinbase | Mother London
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary Series/News
Susan Lacy and Jessica Levin - Billy Joel: And So It Goes, "Part Two"
Rebecca Miller - Mr. Scorsese, "All This Filming Isn't Healthy" - WINNER
Alexandria Stapleton - Sean Combs: The Reckoning, "Official Girl"
Matt Wolf - Pee-wee as Himself, "Part 1"
Marshall Curry - SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night, "Written By: A Week Inside the SNL Writers Room"
